Where to Stay
Every captivating tailor-made itinerary needs a perfect base. Our team has handpicked this collection of properties to give you luxury options in styles to suit any adventure.
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Our Team
Steppes Travel is made by the people who work here. Incredible holidays are made possible because of their vast travel experience and the great enthusiasm they bring to their work.
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Our Tour Experts
We carefully select our experts based on their knowledge, companionship and influence, ensuring that you can travel with the most knowledgeable leaders in the field.
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Heroes and Heroines
The people who lead the way when it comes to those things which matter to us: exploration, the environment, women’s empowerment and education.
Cotswolds
Picture England in your mind’s eye and you are likely to conjure up an image of the Cotswolds with its honey-coloured houses surrounded by rolling, green hills.
The Cotswolds are the rural heartland of England where traditions are celebrated and outdoor living is in the blood. It is home to an abundance of beautiful gardens, arboretums and manor houses such as Highgrove, built in the 18th century.
There are fascinating market towns and idyllic villages where shopping at a local farmers’ market, drinking a leisurely pint in a 17th-century pub or savouring a meal in a Michelin star restaurant are not to be missed. For walkers and cyclists, the Cotswolds has an abundance of tracks, trails and country lanes that give access to some of the more bucolic and picturesque parts of the region.
Why choose us
Why travel to the Cotswolds with Steppes
We have pulled together several guided experiences in the Cotswolds, led by members of the Steppes team or by people we know well. Like anywhere in the world, somewhere as desirable as the Cotswolds can find itself overrun with visitors at certain times of the year. It is crucial therefore to know where to go to avoid the crowds, but still enjoy a quintessential Cotswold experience. At Steppes Travel, we all live and work in the Cotswolds, so we’d like to think we can show you a side to this place we call home, that others simply do not know about.
Highlights of Cotswolds
Towns, villages and festivals
Cirencester is capital of the Cotswolds and was the second biggest town after London during the Roman occupation in AD2. Over 2,000 years later, it is home to Steppes Travel’s HQ and is full of fascinating Roman history. Many of the small market towns in the Cotswolds were built on the wool trade with 12th century churches and great manor houses standing testament to the wealth that was created.
Talk to us about a walking tour around Malmesbury, Tetbury or Painswick or let us show you some of our favourite, off the tourist-trail villages. The Cotswolds are home to quirky festivals to be found all year round – the horse fair at Stow on the Wold, cheese rolling at Brockworth and the traditional woolsack race in Tetbury are great fun.
Highlights of Cotswolds
Cotswolds – a byword for bucolic
Nobody can describe summer days in the Cotswolds, better than Laurie Lee, a proud Cotswoldian:
‘Bees blew like cake-crumbs through the golden air, white butterflies like sugared wafers, and when it wasn’t raining a diamond dust took over which veiled and yet magnified all things.’
Let us show you some of our favourite walks, following in the footsteps of Laurie Lee and revealing parts of the Cotswolds you won’t find on other trips. Visit nature reserves in secluded dales and woodlands, discover the Five Valleys and learn about the area’s fascinating history or trek across orchid clad escarpments overlooking villages and rivers. After a day spent exploring, a pint of Stroud Brewery ale in Laurie Lee’s favourite pub, The Woolpack, is the perfect end to the day.
Experiences
Tell us what you love doing and we’ll curate a journey that’s perfect for you.
Cotswolds
The Close Hotel
A stone’s throw from Tetbury’s iconic Market House, the Close Hotel dates back to the 16th century, when it was constructed as a private residence. Its fantastic central location means it is within walking distance of…
Cotswolds
The Manor House
A converted 16th-century home, the Manor House exudes Cotswold charm with its traditional design and cosy atmosphere. Located in the heart of Moreton-in-Marsh, it is conveniently located for exploring the northern and central Cotswolds.
Cotswolds
Dormy House
From the 17th century, Dormy House was a working farm whose owners cultivated the surrounding land. In the 1940s, it caught the eye of the neighbouring Broadway Golf Club who bought it and changed the name…
Cotswolds
Lucknam Park Hotel
Situated in 500 acres of parkland, Lucknam Park is the epitome of an English country stately home which effortlessly combines heritage and luxury. Retreat here for unspoilt country-house living at its very best. There are 42…
Meet our experts
A passion for travel runs right through every one of our experts - meaning they're always ready with first-hand insight about their specialist countries.
Paul Bird
It wasn’t part of the script, career plans were quite different but after four global trips visiting such exciting destinations, travel became a passion that eventually led to me entering the industry. The more I have travelled the greater the desire has been to see and do more.
Talk with our experts
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Sue Grimwood
I was inspired to travel south from an early age. My form teacher when I was nine made us listen to tapes from Shackleton’s expeditions, I didn’t know it at the time, but it obviously left a deep impression on my psyche.
Talk with our experts
- 01285 880 980
Clare Higginson
It was my passion for languages that first encouraged me to leave the UK behind and grab my rucksack. Since then, it’s been a mixture of intriguing cultures, jaw-dropping landscapes and the wonder of seeing animals in their natural habitat that sees me continuously extending my travel wish list.
Talk with our experts
- 01285 880 980
John Faithfull
My love affair with travel began in a vintage Italian train carriage at sunset on a hot and sticky September evening in 1983. Sardined into a two-bench compartment, I’d spent five hours sharing sweaty thighs, broken-Italian pleasantries and furtive glances while rattling towards Turin, stopping at every wisteria-draped village along the way.
Talk with our experts
- 01285 880 980
Illona Cross
Born in a small South African town, I have always followed my passion for nature and discovery. After studying Nature Conservation in Pretoria, I was one of the first women to complete a very tough cadetship in the Natal Parks Board. It was here where I cut my teeth in African wildlife management.
Talk with our experts
- 01285 880 980
Start planning your trip
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Norfolk
While Norfolk has a fascinating interior with picturesque market towns and idyllic villages, it is the county’s coastline and inland waterways that…
Why Choose Steppes?
Our knowledge and expertise set us apart. So too our curiosity. It is this that drives us to create a journey that is really bespoke to you, all the while ensuring we travel and operate sustainably.
Are you ready to discover extraordinary once again?
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